Abstract
The purposes of this study were to investigate level of knowledge and employed coping strategies, and to examine the relationship between knowledge and coping strategies among persons diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. Cross sectional descriptive design was used. A convenience sample of 222 adult patients with diabetes was recruited. Diabetes knowledge test (DKT) and the Diabetes Coping Measure (DCM) were used. The overall knowledge test score was low. Participants achieved higher scores in tackling spirit and diabetes integration coping while avoidance coping strategies had the lowest scores. There was a significant positive correlation between knowledge and tackling spirit coping and diabetes integration, and a significant negative correlation between knowledge and passive resignation coping. Knowledge among patients with type 2 diabetes was poor. Several areas of knowledge deficits were identified. Efforts to improve knowledge of persons with diabetes need to be continued along with an emphasis on their coping strategies used which require assessment and understanding by health care providers in clinical settings.
Highlights
Diabetes is considered a major public health problem (Unnikrishnan & Mohan, 2016)
Knowledge among patients diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes is low
The employment of active coping strategies is associated with higher level of knowledge, while the employment of passive coping strategies is associated with lower level of knowledge
Summary
Diabetes is considered a major public health problem (Unnikrishnan & Mohan, 2016). It is a disabling disease associated with significant morbidity and mortality (Zhu et al, 2015). Individuals with diabetes who have a high level of knowledge regarding diabetes self-care, tend to have a better long term glycemic control (Islam et al, 2015; Gomes et al, 2018) and good self-care practices (Kassahun, Gesesew, Mwanri, & Eshetie, 2016). Lack of knowledge is one of the barriers of self-management and medication adherence among this population (Ahola & Groop, 2013). Persons with diabetes need to deal with daily stressful challenges of their illness. Diabetes could lead them to distress and eventually to depression (Mulligan et al, 2017; Ridosh, Roux, Meehan, & Penckofer, 2017)
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